IRAQ: Three bombs killed at least 19 people in Iraq, breaking a relative lull in guerrilla violence

Record ID: 354345

  • Title: IRAQ: Three bombs killed at least 19 people in Iraq, breaking a relative lull in guerrilla violence
  • Date: 20th February 2006
  • Summary: EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL WITH SIGN READING "AL-KADHIMIYA HOSPITAL"
  • Embargoed: 7th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAE1YWIR67RRTOKSVI1LNQFX1GP
  • Story Text: Three bombs killed at least 19 people in Iraq, breaking a relative lull in guerrilla violence as the U.S. ambassador warned against sectarianism and militias in the new government.
    In the first attack , a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad as a convoy of sports utility vehicles often used by foreign security firms drove past, wounding at least four civilians, police said.
    Black smoke billowed into the sky after the blast and fire engines rushed to the site.
    "A blast took place when a US four-wheel-drive was driving from here. A roadside bomb exploded near the vehicles," said Qais Abdullah, an Iraqi witness.
    Foreign officials and security contractors move around Baghdad in high-profile convoys of four-wheel-drive sports utility vehicles accompanied by armed guards. They are a frequent target for insurgents.
    Meanwhile, a roadside bomb went off near an Iraqi police patrol in central Baghdad, wounding four people, police said.
    The blast took place in al-Karrada neighbourhood of central Baghdad.
    Police said three policemen were among the wounded, but other witnesses said that only two people were wounded in the attack.
    "We heard a blast and when we went outside to check, we found two wounded men, one a policeman and the other was a civilian. Shrapnel was scattered all over the area," said Muhammed, a witness.
    Later, a suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up on a bus in north-western Baghdad on Monday (February 20), killing at least 12 people, Interior Ministry sources said.
    The attack in the mostly Shi'ite Muslim Kadhimiya district also wounded at least nine people, the sources said.
    Some of the charred victims of the suicide bomber lay dead in the bus, police said. Others were hurled out of the vehicle by the force of the blast.
    The Iraqi army said that 17 were wounded in the attack.
    Two separate bomb attacks have killed at least 17 people in Iraq, breaking a relative lull in guerrilla violence as the U.S. ambassador warned against sectarianism and militias in the new government.
    In the northern city of Mosul, a bomb planted inside a restaurant killed four civilians and one policeman, police said.
    The violence reminded Iraqi politicians of the security crisis they will face after forming a new government, a process that has yet to kick off more than two months after elections that Washington had hoped would ease sectarian strife.
    Insurgents are waging a campaign of bombings, shootings and assassinations in a bid to topple the Iraqi government and drive anti U.S.-led troops.
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